US Airways, America West to merge - CNBC
Thursday May 19, 3:29 pm ET


NEW YORK (Reuters) - US Airways Group Inc. (OTC BB:UAIRQ.OB - News) and America West Holdings Corp. (NYSE:AWA - News) are set to announce an agreement to merge after the close of trading on Thursday, business news television station CNBC reported.


Let's see what happens this afternoon, I wish they would get it over with>

CNBC reporting the announcement will be in minutes now that the markets have closed. CNBC is also reporting $2 BILLION in new investments. Live on CNBC all about merger. Now 4:00pm eastern

Good by CCY; reported that HQ to be Arizona.

CNBC just report HP stock trading halted at 4:00pm for an announcement.

And none of the anilysts think this has much of a chance for long term success.

America West halted on expected merger
May 19, 2005 4:13:00 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of America West Airlines (AWA) were halted in over-the-counter trading as the market expected the carrier to announce it has agreed to merge with bankrupt U.S. Airways (UAIRQ).

Business news television station CNBC reported that the two carriers are set to make the announcement after the close of trading on Thursday.

© 2005 Reuters

And none of the anilysts think this has much of a chance for long term success.

Two of the analyst on CNBC say if Doug Parker does this right it could work. They say key is to start with codeshare then go from there.

And none of the anilysts think this has much of a chance for long term success.

The same ones who predicted US would be dead by now, and they've been wrong each time so far.

I do think some airlines will die off, but just because US was the weakest doesn't mean it'll be them. This could be the breath of life they need to keep going while another one dies (UA? DL? who knows). Which would be the irony of ironies - DL was one of the healthiest going in to this thing, but it could just be that when the music stops they're the ones w/o a chair.

On CNBC they were saying this is going to hurt Delta the most, since they were hoping US would be gone. I expect DL will have to file BK by this fall.

CNN official announcement:

http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/19/news/midcaps/airlines/index.htm

Delta is deep into trouble.
There costs are much higher and their service not much better.
They will be most hurt by an agressive full service airline with a low cost structure as they were really hoping for US exit from the market.
I am pretty sure they will have to go into BK.

The same ones who predicted US would be dead by now, and they've been wrong each time so far.

Here, Here! Like many on this board some just are always wrong yet they keep yapping. Even the Weatherman is laughing at them :)

Here are the other links that were added after this one:

AmericaWest (courtesty of IndyDavid)

http://www.shareholder.com/americaw...eleaseID=163980

MSNBC (courtesty of AgtMulder)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7908207/

Here's the press release (http://161.58.184.45/merger/news/index.html).

I thought for sure that the proposed "merger talks" were originally just to flush out other investors. I considered a merger to be the type of bold but financially risky venture that America West was careful to avoid in the past. We'll see if this works out.

But Southwest must really be ticked. After doing everything in their power to knock off USAirways, they now find them merging with probably the ONLY hub and spoke carrier that has survived, and even begun to thrive competing directly against them. Plus you add CLT, LGA, DCA (the real jewel, in my opinion), BOS, and PHL into the mix.

MurphBut Southwest must really be ticked.

Let's hope so! :) It would serve them right. Afterall, I had it on good authority that "they were k-k-k-coming to k-k-k-kill US!"

David

Let's hope so! :) It would serve them right. Afterall, I had it on good authority that "they were k-k-k-coming to k-k-k-kill US!"

David


You're kidding, right? LUV has been killing US since they started serving Manchester and Islip way back when. LUV calls it death by a thousand cuts. Look what they did to US in BWI, look what they are doing to US in PHL. US is dead - witness the two bankruptcies. US became an operational nightmare, with "stubbornly high costs" with increasing difficulty on the unit revenue side thanks in part to LUV. The only hope is what happened, a life line from a slightly stronger carrier.

They should really think about a new name. While "USAirways" has a nice ring to it if you've lived in a cave for twenty years, the legacy is too much to overcome.

And none of the anilysts think this has much of a chance for long term success.

It amazes me that people still give analysts of stocks (especially those parrots who appear on tv) credibility. Let alone the Airline analysts. Were these the same types of analysts saying Bricks and Mortar companies are dead in 2000. Also their ridiculous target prices seem to be an embarrassment now that we look back on it. QCOM to 600 Pets.com etc.